Mickey Rourke To Play Baddie In Iron Man 2?

Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) is in talks to play the main heavy in “Iron Man 2,” the Marvel Entertainment sequel that director Jon Favreau begins shooting this spring.

Rourke is in discussions to play the Crimson Dynamo, a heavily tattooed Russian arms dealer. He’s considered to be an evil version of Iron Man because he battles the superhero in a nuclear-powered suit of armor.
Script is still being written by Justin Theroux, and Marvel has been trying to keep a wrap on details leaking out to fanboys.

Iron Man 2 opens in theaters summer 2010 and is to be distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Thoughts:

Haven't seen The Wrestler yet, but I heard so many great things about that film. I mostly enjoy most of Rourke's performances and I think he would be an ideal villain in Iron Man 2.

Weekend Boxoffice Numbers

In Order

Marley & Me
Studio: 20th Century Fox
This Week: $24,263,763
Last Week: $36,357,586
Total: $106,664,046
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Bedtime Stories
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
This Week: $20,501,339
Last Week: $27,450,296
Total: $85,539,168
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Studio: Paramount Pictures
This Week: $18,691,248
Last Week: $26,853,816
Total: $79,297,086
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Valkyrie
Studio: United Artists
This Week: $14,094,617
Last Week: $21,027,007
Total: $60,743,921
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Yes Man
Studio: Warner Bros.
This Week: $13,910,477
Last Week: $16,657,046
Total: $79,507,388
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Seven Pounds
Studio: Columbia Pictures
This Week: $10,068,518
Last Week: $13,203,236
Total: $60,147,298
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The Tale of Despereaux
Studio: Universal Pictures
This Week: $6,939,295
Last Week: $8,932,625
Total: $43,661,775
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The Day the Earth Stood Still
Studio: 20th Century Fox
This Week: $5,049,698
Last Week: $7,697,799
Total: $74,424,256
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Doubt
Studio: Miramax
This Week: $5,000,893
Last Week: $5,339,742
Total: $18,705,481
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Slumdog Millionaire
Studio: Fox Searchlight
This Week: $4,690,769
Last Week: $4,301,870
Total: $28,676,598

Thoughts:
This week looks pretty much like last weeks except for a few minor differences. Fox's Marley & Me continues to perform well and has already passed the $100 million mark. This was a film that Fox badly needed, its just a shame that the studio couldn't get more films like this earlier on in the summer. I can see Marley & Me going on to make more than $150 million during its theatrical run. Disney's Bedtime Stories came in second with about $20 million. The Adam Sandler flick should finish at $125 million.

David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button brought in about $18 million for a total of $79 million. The $150 million budgeted film is going to have a tough time matching its high budget, but I can see the film grossing more than $120 million. Valkyrie scored the 4th spot with $14 million with a total of $60 million. The Tom Cruise Hitler flick should be able to crack the $80 million spot with a chance at $90 million. The film was great and I think more people should check it out. Jim Carrey's Yes Man took in $13 million this week and should finish at $100 million after its initial run. Doubt climbed up one spot and brought in another $5 million for a total of $18 million.

Director Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire grossed an impressive $4 million and made the top 10 this week. The Oscar buzzed flick is still in only 600 theaters and is still continuing to do business.

D.J. Caruso Lands "Jack the Giant Killer"

New Line has set D.J. Caruso (Disturbia, Eagle Eye) to direct "Jack the Giant Killer," a drama that takes an adult look at the Jack and the Beanstalk legend.

When a princess is kidnapped, a long-standing peace between men and giants becomes threatened, and a young farmer is given an opportunity to lead a dangerous expedition to the giant kingdom to rescue her.

Mark Bomback ("Race to Witch Mountain") wrote the script. Neal Moritz is producing.

Thoughts:

I hope it turns out better than his last film, Eagle Eye. Disturbia was a pretty good film and Eagle Eye definitely had the potential to be one too, but just couldn't deliver. Here's hoping he can bounce back with this film.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost join Spielberg’s Tintin Film

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost will play the Thompson Twins in Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg’s two-pic "Tintin" project.

The 3-D performance-capture films, based on Georges Remi's comic books and co-financed by Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment, will center on Tintin’s globetrotting adventures as a fearless reporter. In the books, the Thompson Twins are a pair of incompetent, clumsy detectives who can only be told apart by the shape of their moustaches — Thompson, with a “p,” has a flat moustache, while Thomson, without the “p,” has a flared version.

As previously reported, Andy Serkis will play Tintin’s sidekick Captain Haddock. Tintin has yet to be cast. Thomas Sangster had been set for the role, but exited the project when it was delayed due to funding difficulties caused by the DreamWorks/Paramount split.

The first film is still being directed by Steven Spielberg while the second is being directed by Peter Jackson.

Thoughts:

OK, now I'm alittle more excited about this film. Both Pegg and Frost are great when working together. Here's hoping it turns out good.

New Street Fighter Poster Revealed

20th Century Fox has released the poster for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.

Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak (Cradle 2 the Grave, Doom), the PG-13 video game adaptation hits theaters on February 27. It stars Kristin Kreuk, Michael Clarke Duncan, Neal McDonough, Taboo, Chris Klein, Moon Bloodgood, Edmund Chen, Cheng Pei Pei, Josie Ho and Robin Shou.

Thoughts:

What on Earth was Fox thinking when they picked up distribution rights for this film. I mean the first Street Fighter film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme was already bad and hardly entertaining. I smell a big box office flop, they should have just stuck to a direct-to DVD thing.

Relativity Media Buys Rogue Pictures

After more than two months of negotiations, Relativity Media has closed a deal to buy Rogue Pictures from Universal Pictures for roughly $150 million.

Move bolsters Relativity's library, adding some 30 titles, including Rogue's debut pic "Unleashed" and summer horror hit "The Strangers," which earned $53 million. Relativity's new assets also include more than 30 Rogue projects in various stages of development, such as a "Strangers" sequel, which has a finished script. Relativity will inherit a number of producing deals as well, including those with Wes Craven and Intrepid.

A source familiar with the deal dubbed the $150 million sale price a bargain, adding that in a better economy, the consistently profitable genre label could have fetched perhaps more than double that sum. But Universal also comes out of the deal a winner, taking a lump cash payment now and retaining a distribution stake in future Rogue films. As part of the deal, Universal will continue to release Rogue titles for most of the world and collect a discounted distribution fee of roughly 10%, which is less than the standard rate of 12% but more than the 8% that companies like Marvel and DreamWorks Animation pay.

Today's announcement comes on the heels of Relativity's landmark equity partnership with Universal (announced earlier this fall) where Relativity will fund a substantial part of Universal's upcoming slate until 2015.

Founded in 2004 by David Linde and James Schamus, Rogue Pictures is devoted to producing high-quality suspense, action, thriller, comedy and urban entertainment with mainstream appeal and franchise potential. Past hits include: The Strangers, Waist Deep, The Hitcher, Balls of Fury, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Dave Chapelle's Block Party, Unleashed, Doomsday, Fearless, and Assault on Precinct 13.

Thoughts:

Sounds like a promising deal for Universal. They still get distribution rights to Rogue films in most of the world and Relativity Media helps fund the films. This is also a major coup for Relativity Media since Rogue Pictures has been generating nothing, but profit from some of their latest films and I have a feeling that Rogue is going to become alot more valuable in the future.

REVIEW: Valkyrie

Valkyrie

Year: 2008
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Thomas Kretschmann
Distributor: MGM Home Entertainment
MPAA: Rated R

Valkyrie has hit some bumps before releasing in late December. The film directed by Bryan Singer, was pushed back several times during production which resulted in more and more fans simply losing interest in this film. I was still somewhat excited for the film simply because I think Singer is a talented filmmaker. My excitement only grew when MGM finally released the full trailer for Valkyrie which I thought looked awesome.

Plot Outline:
Colonel Claus von Stauffenburg (Tom Cruise), is the real life mastermind behind the elaborate plot known as Project Valkyrie: a plan to assassinate Hitler and overthrow his government from the inside. Stauffenburg has been a loyal soldier and an asset to the Reich for his entire military career, but after losing an eye, a hand, and three fingers in an Allied bombing, he reaches a breaking point. The destructive madness that his country is unleashing on the world has become too terrible for the Colonel to stand silent. He joins the resistance movement and risks his life and the life of his family for the chance to assassinate Adolf Hitler and effectively render the German war machine impotent.

Plot:
The film is based on true events that occurred during the Hitler era. Their is no surprise here and the film ends the way it did in real life. While this does make the film predictable and pretty straight forward, Valkyrie is still a very interesting film. The amount of information we have presented is great and we get to know alot about what really happened. The script is written in a stylish way that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I thought the film kept me interested and really made for some thrilling moments. The film does have alot of dialogue, but its mostly dialogue that tells us whats happening next. Since their is alot of dialogue, there were times where I felt the movie was more like something I should be watching on the History channel instead of theaters. I don't mind alot of dialogue, but I'm pretty sure the film could have been trimmed down alittle. The movie can also get somewhat emotional in later scenes and when you find out how these men were so close to stopping a tyrant known as Hitler. I thought the characters were very interesting and consisted of many layers. Its just a shame that we don't get much character development on these interesting characters which I thought was really lacking. I'm also interested to see if another ending for the film was made. As much as I thought the original ending was good and went with the real events that happened in the past, I think an alternate ending could be fun to watch.

Cast:
Tom Cruise plays as Oberst Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg and he does a great job at it. Cruise has been getting alot of negativity lately and I don't know why, but his performance here should shut those haters. His Stauffenberg is well played and pretty smart. I wouldn't necessarily say its Cruise's best work, but its definitely one of his finest in a long time. Bill Nighy plays as Friedrich Olbricht and he too gives a good performance. I usually tend to enjoy Nighy in almost any movie hes in simply because he knows what to do. Hes very helpful in this film and equally makes a nice addition to the cast. Kenneth Branagh plays as General Henning von Tresckow and hes also another winner. He has alot of screen time and I think he was very effective in every scene. Tom Wilkinson plays as General Friedrich Fromm and hes as great as always. Wilkinson has been in alot of recent hits and hes been great in all of them. Valkyrie is no exception and Wilkinson delivers another strong performance. We also have Thomas Kretschmann playing as Major Otto Ernst Remer. He doesn't have alot of screen time compared to some of the other actors, but I liked the role he played in the movie.

Picture:
The visual look of Valkyrie is somewhat of a mixed bag. The film generally looks great, but a few issues keep it from being perfect. Being relatively new, I wasn't able to detect much film grain. I might have scene a couple scenes that looked like it might contain some grain, but its hardly ever going to bother you. The color tone was great and Valkyrie always tends to look somewhat vibrant. Colors tend to pop and show a good amount of color especially the first 30 Min's. Black levels are pretty darn strong and hold up very well in some of the darker scenes. I'm really happy about this since some of the scenes later on in the film are mostly in low lit indoor areas. Flesh tones seem pretty accurate for the most part, but can tend to look alittle waxy at times. Detail is pretty good and the film shows a good amount of clarity, but I cant help thinking that this film can look better. Close up shots show some good facial detail, but it isn't razor sharp as I would have thought it to be considering its a new release. I think this was due to the producers wanting the film to stay natural and feel more like a film of its period.

Sound:
The soundtrack in Valkyrie is simply great. The films music is composed by John Ottman who also composed other films like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Superman Returns. His score for the movie is effective and really good. It not only brings the suspense in the film to a new level, but its also pretty darn good. Even though the film is more dialogue oriented, it still manages to pull enough music to satisfy the audience. Speaking of dialogue, I wish it was alittle higher in terms of volume. I mean its perfectly crisp and clear, but just alittle soft in some spots. The bass in Valkyrie is bombastic. I honestly wasn't expecting much from this film in terms of bass, but I was more than pleasantly surprised on how strong it really is. Dynamics are loud and spread out nicely. Gun shots and explosions are clear and don't seem to have any background noise that get in the way of anything.

Conclusion:
Valkyrie is a great film that I fairly enjoyed. Its predictable, thrilling and somewhat gripping. I just wish some parts were slightly trimmed and their was more character development. These were interesting characters that should have been more exploited and explained. The films cast is great with everyone delivering solid performances. Its easily one of Tom Cruise's finest performance in a long time. The visual look of the film is generally good with vibrant colors that pop, buts its detail could have been better. The soundtrack is great with great music that goes well with a stellar bass. Valkyrie is definitely worth checking out if your into movies about Hitler or just looking for a good thriller of a movie.

Grade: B-